Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Kirakira, Makira Island, Solomon Islands:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to IRA:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- IRA Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about IRA
- Map of Nearest Airports to WAL
- List of Nearest Airports to WAL
- Map of Furthest Airports from WAL
- List of Furthest Airports from WAL
- Map of Nearest Airports to IRA
- List of Nearest Airports to IRA
- Map of Furthest Airports from IRA
- List of Furthest Airports from IRA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Kirakira Airport (IRA), Kirakira, Makira Island, Solomon Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,429 miles (or 13,565 kilometers).
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Kirakira Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.
Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Kirakira Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | WAL / KWAL |
| Airport Name: | Wallops Flight Facility Airport |
| Location: | Wallops Island, Virginia, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 37°56'24"N by 75°27'59"W |
| Elevation: | 0 feet (0 meters) |
| View all routes: | Routes from WAL |
| More Information: | WAL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | IRA / AGGK |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Kirakira, Makira Island, Solomon Islands |
| GPS Coordinates: | 10°26'57"S by 161°53'53"E |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| View all routes: | Routes from IRA |
| More Information: | IRA Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- The NASA Wallops Flight Facility has alliances with a number of organizations important to its mission and future growth.
- Because of Wallops Flight Facility Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wallops Flight Facility Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- The furthest airport from Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,785 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- The WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
- Wallops Flight Facility, located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for N.A.S.A.
- AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
- The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
- In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under the direction of the Langley Research Center.
- The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
Facts about Kirakira Airport (IRA):
- The closest airport to Kirakira Airport (IRA) is Ulawa Airport (RNA), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) N of IRA.
- In addition to being known as "Kirakira Airport", another name for IRA is "Ngorangora Airstrip".
- The furthest airport from Kirakira Airport (IRA) is Cap Skirring Airport (CSK), which is nearly antipodal to Kirakira Airport (meaning Kirakira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap Skirring Airport), and is located 12,273 miles (19,752 kilometers) away in Cap Skirring, Senegal.
